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Record Burn

It recently occurred to me that you internet beings may not have any idea what record burn is. So before we dive into our picks, a brief explanation:

Before Soundcloud and Serato, the editor-in-chief and I bought vinyl records. We amassed sizeable vinyl collections over the years; though our vinyl budgets decreased as our obsession for outerwear and overall handsomeness increased — but that’s beside the point. Each time you play a record on a turntable, you physically damage it as the needle tracks the grooves. The result of playing one particular song or section repeatedly is an audible static over the music, and this phenomena is known as record burn.

Hommeschooled was in the house for the Soulection set in Brooklyn last week. Their crew got the party lit (impressively packed for a rainy Wednesday night) with unique selections, including lots of jams from their roster sprinkled in. While I had checked and been impressed by this EP before attending, the tracks became fully realized at Output, where the drums karate chop you in the throat on a proper sound system. Short Stories is an archetype in Soulection’s drum-heavy future beat aesthetic, deftly blending old styles and pushing genres forward. On “To Earth and Back”, the progression of the song changes key and tempo seamlessly, turning a bass-heavy anthem to sell drugs to into a soulful house stepper and then back again(!). It took me hours to un-screw my face after hearing it at the show. Did I mention the kid is 18 and from Scotland? The shit is just crazy all around.

Until last week, I thought it was unfortunate for Bronson that his first proper release on a major would share a drop date with Kendrick. But after considering the attention/brain power required to make sense of To Pimp a Butterfly, I think Bronson made out alright by putting out an accessible, traditional rap record. He sounds at home here on “Terry”, over a familiar drum break and an airy jazz guitar sample that’s much more cheery than the Alchemist’s recent go-to library of esoteric prog-rock samples. That ease is apparent as Bronsolino is fully on his Queens shit here, meandering over the beat with non sequitirs. The track is short but addictive and something I didn’t realize I needed to hear just to take a break from listening to TPAB.